book basket

Another Basket of Books… this one donated to the Longfellow Elementary School auction. I always love to come up with a collection. It's exciting to imagine who will "win" the books and what children will get to read them. This time I tried to find books that would appeal to a wide range of elementary school tastes, either to be read by kids or as read-alouds.

Here's what I came up with:

The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate

Flora and Ulysses by Kate DeCamillo

Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy by Karen Foxlee

The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp by Kathi Appelt

Battle Bunny by Jon Scieszka and Mac Barnett

Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made by Stephan Pastis

The Real Boy by Anne Ursu

Wonder by RJ Palacio

The Year of Billy Miller by Kevin Henkes

In addition, I attached my thoughts on the joy of reading. Of course, anchoring them with a quote from Donalyn Miller, the Book Whisperer herself.

Reading belongs to readers. If we want children to see reading as anything more than a school job, we must give them the chance to choose their own books and develop personal connections to reading, or they never will.
Readers have the right to read below their Lexile level and beyond their ATOS score.

“Reading changes your life. Reading unlocks worlds unknown or forgotten, taking travelers around the world and through time. Reading helps you escape the confines of school and pursue your own education. Through characters – the saints and the sinners, real or imagined – reading shows you how to be a better human being.”

― Donalyn Miller

The Book Whisperer: Awakening the Inner Reader in Every Child